Miles and his squad led Dan away from the battle and the team found an area in the forest where the trees were somewhat more bunched up which made it easier to hide in case of an approaching enemy team. Miles eventually stopped at a small area with chopped up logs scattered around as makeshift seats.
“How the hell did you find this?” Dan asked.
“Luck? We just stumbled upon this nice little spot, brah. We would have stayed and chilled a little longer if we weren’t in a tournament right now.”
Dan found himself a log while Miles took the one next to him. The rest of the group dispersed and found their own logs to sit on. He looked around and gave quick glances at Miles’ team.
James loaded a new magazine into his ZK-77 rifle. He caught Dan’s glance and flashed him a toothy grin. Dan pulled up the big man’s stats.
Agent: James Vandal
Age: 20 M
Shard: Alpha Corporation
Rank: Tier 1 | Level 24
Strength: 38
Agility: 27
Endurance: 30
Intelligence: 25
Healing Factor: n/a
Reflex: Superior +
Zara, the marksman of the team who impressed both Dan and Li during the deathmatch round, sat on a log across from him and began wiping her rifle with a rag.
Agent: Zara Huntsman
Age: 20 F
Shard: Alpha Corporation
Rank: Tier 1 | Level 22
Strength: 30
Agility: 28
Endurance: 24
Intelligence: 26
Healing Factor: n/a
Reflex: Superior ++
The other two who were fully armored head to toe didn’t say a word as they both sat down next to each other in silence. With their helmets, Dan couldn’t see their faces or could gain any insight to what they could be thinking.
He looked back at Miles and said, “To pick up where we left off, these other subsidiary shards we’ve been fighting. The Genesis Talons, the Hellhounds and the Prime Swords, they’re all under the Alpha Corp’s banner. Which means that we’re all still technically on the same side. I don’t feel comfortable with us competing this heavily in the Combat Games and using live ammo. Just feels like we’re inflicting casualties on each other for no good reason.”
Miles nodded. “You’re preaching right there, brah. I hate this bullshit too, and it doesn’t help that I got pals in the Talons.”
“I get that we’re competing to get our skills up and to look good for the judges for more opportunities,” Dan said. “But I don’t know if blowing the shit out of each other really fosters comraderie for agents who are supposed to be on the same side.”
“I think the problem is that the Alpha Corp is in desperation mode.”
Dan stared blankly at the blond agent. “For what?”
“They’re trying to do anything they possibly can to toughen us up so that they have more agents ready to fight those Church fanatics.”
“I’ve heard some rumbling here and there about an full scale invasion into some land called the Dead Zone,” Dan said. “Heard anything about that?”
Miles pointed his finger at him. “That’s the place where that space rock struck the planet and gave those Church assholes that hocus pocus shit. So yeah, the Alpha Corp is probably trying to build their number up quickly and get us ready to clean house with those fanatics.”
Dan looked down at his feet and narrowed his eyes. “Were the Combat Games always like this. Hyper competitive with a real chance of serious injury or even death?”
“Not always, brah. These kind of tournaments used to be way more casual and fun. Stun rounds only for our guns, way bigger credit rewards, guns with goofy and colorful skins and shit like that. You know, like an actual video game. But now, they use these Combaty Games as another means to make us more battle-hardened.” Miles began inspecting his handgun. “Imagine you’re some excited young blood who wants to enter a tournament like this one. You’re thinking it’s gonna be a fun time and win prizes only for the announcer to say that live ammo is allowed and you might actually catch some lead to the stomach if you’re not at the top of your game. Shit is crazy, brah.”
Dan didn’t realize how drastic the change was for tournaments such as the Combat Games. Such events almost seemed like recreational fun until they were turned into tests for agents in deadly combat scenarios.
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“Oh and the rival bounty system is some toxic bullshit, brah.” Miles said. “That shit never existed before. It’s just another cheap ass and manipulative way to generate competition and bad blood between our brothers and sisters, brah.”
“Brothers and sisters?” Dan asked.
“Well… yeah brah. I mean, we’re all humans at the end of the day right?”
“Don’t mind him,” Zara interjected. “He was a hippy before he became an agent.”
“Hey brah, why do you have to expose me like that?” Miles said, weaving his fist at his teammate. He continued. “Yeah brah. I’m gonna bet some credits and say that the Alpha Corp is gonna invade the Dead Zone to kill all the leaders in charge of the Church of Nano-Evolution. Probably sooner rather than later. I’d say maybe three to five years from now. It’s coming, brah.”
Dan simply replied with a nod. There was no point in speculating what the Alpha Corp had planned in the coming years or how they planned on smashing the biggest threats in the world. Right now, Dan had to worry about getting through the Combat Games.
He stood up from the log. “Well Miles, it’s been nice talking to you. But I gotta get going and make sure I stay in one piece for my team.”
“It’s all good, brah. How’s Angie doing?”
“She’s hanging back and keeping an eye on Li. He uh… had an accident and got knocked out.” Dan kept his explanation vague, as he didn’t know if he was allowed to speak of Li’s condition, especially if it related to the effects of the arctic serum.
“Ah I see. So you split off so that you can hunt for ammo and shit, right? That’s pretty noble, brah. I’m sure your mates would appreciate that.” Miles tapped him on the shoulder. “How many mags you got left for you seventy-seven?”
Dan recalled the fight he had with the mutated coyote and the battle with the Talons. He had spent an entire magazine already.
“Got one left,” he said.
Miles reached into his inner coat and and handed him something. “I owe you one, brah. Take this. I can transfer some details of the next ammo cache to your HUD.”
While Dan was appreciative, he rasied an eyebrow. “You’re not gonna go for it?”
“We stopped by a while ago, but forgot that one the constrictions in place has a tier two agent posted there guarding it.”
“In other words, our courageous leader here chickened out,” James said with a snicker.
“Hey, shut up brah. I made a tactical decision and kept us alive,” Miles fired back.
“And now you’re letting Dan have it even though he’s got no backup? That’s a bit screwed up don’t you think?” Zara said.
“I’ll give it a shot,” Dan said. “You guys don’t have to worry about me.”
“Just stay alive so that we can take you on in the last round, brah,” Miles said.
Dan’s HUD updated with directions to the nearest weapons cache. To Dan’s surprise and relief, the caches was only two hundred meters away.
“Huh, it’s not too far away. I’ll try my luck.”
Miles extended his hand out to him. “Later brah.”
“Likewise,” Dan said, shaking the agent’s hand.
Dan and Miles’ squad parted ways, leaving in opposite directions. Dan followed the directions from his HUD and kept checking his surroundings. The ambience in the air still filled with sporadic gunfire off in the distance as well as the occasional growl or chirp from the wildlife.
As Miles had pointed out, the next weapons cache had a high level agent guarding it and Dan knew he would have an uphill battle trying to fight and win to get to the cache.
Dan didn’t encounter any additional resistance as he moved through the forest. He spotted the opening within the trees and found various supply crates scattered along the ground. Instinctively, Dan slammed his back against a tree and briefly scanned his surroundings ahead. His mind raced as he didn’t see the tier two agent guarding the area.
For all he knew, the agent could be lying in wait somewhere, simply waiting for an unsuspecting team to enter with their guard down.
If that was the case, Dan had a stupid idea to lure the agent out.
Berserk mode activated.
Dan rushed to towards the middle and hoped that the agent had a big enough ego to meet his challenge. He stopped just short of a corpse lying beside one of the crates. His HUD performed a scan of the agent’s body.
Agent: Darrel Hellion
Shard: Alpha Corporation
Rank: Tier 2 | Level 30
Status: DEAD
The agent laid in a pool of blood. Dan saw the gruesome punctures in his torso and the fragmented bones sticking out of his forearm and ankle. This sort of damage didn’t come from bullets or explosive weapons. The agent was physically overpowered up close.
The question the crept up in Dan’s mind was who would have been strong enough to kill an agent of this caliber?
Dan initially suspected Rachel Cutter and her team of Prime Swords. Rachel somehow matched him in strength even while in berserk mode, an ability that allowed Dan to transcend his normal physical limits as a tier one.
The only other possibility that Dan suspected was another mutated animal, whether it was a coyote or something else. But if Dan managed to kill one and still walk away, how did a tier two agent get killed in such brutal fashion against such a creature?
Dan swallowed and tried to keep his composure. Ignoring the stench of blood and death, Dan stepped his boot into the pool of blood and opened the lid of the supply crate. He peeked inside and didn’t find anything noteworthy. A few ZK-77 variants with silencers and scopes and a few silenced PX300 handguns. The silver sheen on the firearms was a nice aesthetic touch.
“These would match up with Li’s outfit pretty well,” Dan said.
Dan snatched one of the silver seventy-seven rifles and two of the PX300 pistols. He planned on giving an extra handgun to each teammate while Li would get the silenced seventy-seven.
He left the supply crate and checked the few others scattered around. It seemed that whoever defeated the agent in combat had already gone through the cache. Dan found nothing but empty crates or borken and damaged rifles and other gear that must have been swapped out by another team before him.
Dan double checked his HUD to view his team’s points and the time he had left.
Weapons cache found.
Congratulations. You have completed a mini-objective. 1 point earned.
Total points: 17.
8:12 minutes left.
Your team is placed #3 overall for this round. Continue completing objectives to maintain your place.
Dan’s HUD popped up a notification of an incoming call from Angie.
“What’s going on?” Dan asked.
“Good news,” Angie said, her tone noticeably more upbeat. “Li is awake.”
Dan breathed a sigh of relief. “Holy shit, that is good news. How does he feel?”
“He seems a bit sluggish, but he’s okay. He’s asking where you ran off to,” Angie said.
“Alright then, I’m coming back to you guys,” Dan said.
Dan had already taken all he could from this weapons cache. As he walked, he briefly stopped by the body of the agent and crouched down. The agent’s eyes were still wide open in shock before his death. Dan reached for the agent’s eyelids and closed them for him. He stood up and left without saying a word.